Motorized railway truck

ABSTRACT

A truck assembly adapted to maintain substantially equal loading on the motorized axles of a two axle truck by resiliently suspending said truck on a central post, the resilient suspension permitting rotation of the truck about a horizontal axis located approximately at ground level and in line with the vertical axis of rotation of the truck from about the post.

UIIIttd States Patent n 1 Parker et al.

[ 1 Jan. 30, 1973 [54] MOTORIZED RAILWAY TRUCK [75] Inventors: JohnHenry Parker, St. Laurent, Quebec; Frank Thomas Mclnerney, Bruno,Quebec, both of Canada [73] Assignee: MLW-Worthington Limited, Montreal,Quebec, Canada 22 Filed Jan.ll, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 105,284

[52] U.S. Cl. ..105/136, 105/182 R, 105/199 R [51] Int. Cl. ..B6lc 9/50,1361f 3/04, B6lf 5/20 [58] Field of Search ..I05/182 R. 183,199 R, 136

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Hirst ..l05/l99 R FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 839,336 6/1960 Great Britain ..105/199 RDeBuzareinques ..l05/l99 R Bugatti ..I05/I83 Primary ExaminerGerald M.Forlenza Assistant ExaminerHoward Beltran Att0rneyAlan Swabey [57]ABSTRACT A truck assembly adapted to maintain substantially equalloading on the motorized axles of a two axle truck by resilientlysuspending said truck on a central post, the resilient suspensionpermitting rotation of the truck about a horizontal axis locatedapproximately at ground level and in line with the vertical axis ofrotation of the truck from about the post.

7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAHOISIS 3,713,397

SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG INVENTORS John Henry PARKER Frank Thomas McINERNEYaqua/ PATENTED JAN 3 0 I973 SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTORS John Henry PARKERFmnl: Thomas McINERNEY' A TTORNEY MOTORIZED RAILWAY TRUCK BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates toa locomotive truck. More particularly, the present invention relates toa suspension system for a two-axle truck with two, axle hung, nosesuspended traction motors wherein the load is maintained evenly on bothaxles during acceleration or decceleration of the locomotive, by theaforementioned motors.

2. Description of the Prior Art Truck suspensions wherein the truck isfixed to the vehicle chassis by means of resilient pads and the use ofresilient pads as spring members are well known. Normally, when theresilient pad is utilized as the suspension member between the truck andthe car body, they are positioned directly between an upper surface ofthe truck and the bottom surface of the car or locomotive and arelocated generally in the diagonally opposed corners of the truck. This,while providing stability between the truck and the car, severely limitsany tendency to equalize the load on the front and rear wheels of thetruck during acceleration and decceleration.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is thus the main object of the present inventionto provide a suspension system facilitating balancing of the loading onthe wheels during the application of tractive or braking effort by theaforementioned motors.

More particularly, it is the main object of the present invention toprovide a suspension system for a two-axle truck, the suspension systembeing adapted to facilitate the equalization of loading on the drivewheels during acceleration or decceleration to thereby improve theoverall traction of the locomotive.

With the arrangement of the present invention, a self-contained unitthatmay be simply fixed to the bottom of the vehicle is provided. This unithas a central mounting post resiliently attached to the truck frame bypairs of resilient members applying forces in opposite directions to thetruck frame and the center post structure.

Broadly, the present invention relates to a truck assembly comprising atruck frame having a pair of motorized axles with the motors beingmounted on bearings on each end of the axle and additionally supportedon the truck frame. A vertical post structure is disposed at the centerof the truck frame and has a lower bearing section adjacent its freeend. The lower bearing section is provided with bearing means interposedon opposite sides and at an angle to the central vertical axis of thepost and lying in the central vertical plane perpendicular to the truckaxles. An upper bearing section is provided adjacent a mounting end ofthe post structure for supporting a vehicle body. Further bearing meansare interposed between the truck frame and the upper bearing section.The bearing means at the top and bottom of the post structure areprovided to permit limited angular motion about a horizontal transverseaxis parallel to and midway between the axles of the truck to compensatefor motor forces on the truck frame and for accommodating limitedangular motion about the central vertical axis of the post.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Further features, objects and advantagesof the present invention will be evident from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the truck suspension structure of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the truck structure of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a section along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic illustrations of the suspension arrangementof the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a further arrangement of a bolster coupling a pair of trucks,each of which incorporates the mounting of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. l, the truck frame10 mounts pairs of wheels 12 and 14 on axles l6 and 18 at opposite endsof the truck. The center post assembly or structure 20 adapted to befixed to the bottom of the car or locomotive is provided with a centerpost 22, a lower bearing section 24 adjacent the free end 28 of thepost, and an upper bearing section 30 positioned adjacent the mountingend of the post assembly.

These main elements, the frame 10 and post structure 20, areinterconnected by suitable bearing means such as resilient members whichin the illustrated embodiment take the form of resilient pads to bedescribed in more detail hereinbelow. In the illustrated arrangement,there are two pairs of pads formed by individual resilient pad means 32,34 and 36, 38 respectively (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

The bottom bearing structure 24 in the illustrated arrangement issecured to the bottom end of the post 22 by bolts 40 or other suitablemeans and is provided with a pair of bearing surfaces 42 and 44 onopposite sides of the post 22.

The frame 10 is provided with a pair of bearing surfaces 46 and 48opposed respectively to the bearing surfaces 42 and 44 of the structure24.

The slope of these surfaces 42, 44, 46 and 48 to the horizontal in theillustrated arrangement has been shown to be about 45 and the resilientmeans 32 and 34 which have their longitudinal axes (illustrated at 64and 66 in FIG. 6) substantially perpendicular to these surfaces thusintersect an an angle of approximately 90. The point of intersection ofthese longitudinal axes 64 and 66 is important to the present inventionand will be described in more detail hereinbelow with respect to FIGS. 5and 6.

It will be noted that the resilient means 32 and 34 are locatedsymmetrically with respect to the longitudinal center line 50 of thetruck 10 (see FIGS. 3 and 5). Only a single pair of resilient pads 32and 34 have been shown, however, a plurality of pairs of pads may beused if desired. When a plurality of pairs of pads are used, these alsoshould be symmetrically arranged with respect to the longitudinal centerline 50 and should pads 32 and 34 should project a minimum distance onopposite sides of the longitudinal center line 50 of the truck. When asingle pair'of pads 32 and 34 are used,

the longitudinal axis of the pads 32 and 34 and the rotation axis 70 ofthe truck intersect at a point 68 (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

The resilient pads 36 and 38 are arranged to bear on upper surface 52 ofthe truck and a bearing surfaces 54 on the upper support section 30 ofthe post structure 20 (see FIG. 4).

The resilient pad means 32, 34, 36 and 38 are compressed when thevehicle chassis is in place; the pads 36 and 38 are compressed by theweight of the vehicle and additionally by precompression in pads 32 and34, which is provided by proper dimensional control of the assembly, asthe bottom bearing structure 24 is drawn up to post 20 by bolts 40. Pads32 and 34 are precompressed without the locomotive exerting tractiveefforts, so that when tractive effort is applied to pad 32 by surface 46and thus onto the surface 42 causing pad 32 to compress further, pad 34does not experience a tension force as surfaces 44 and 48 move apart.The necessary increase in length of pad 34 is due entirely to relaxationof prior precompression. The precompression required must also besufficient to prevent the corners of pads 32 and 34 from experiencingtension as the truck turns about the vertical axis 70 during negotiationof the minimum curve.

Compression of the pads in the principal direction changes theircharacteristics in the orthogonal directions; thus compression in excessof the minimum may be used to achieve desired lateral characteristicsfor proper ride control.

The members 32, 34, 36 and 38 are arranged in an X-formation in planview (see FIG. 5). The members 32 and 34 are on the longitudinal axis ofthe truck and are spaced as required from physical size considerationsso that their principal axes intersect at rail level, and the resilientpads 36 and 38 are on the transverse axes 52 of the truck and are spacedlaterally wide enough to provide lateral stability of the chassis, butwith due consideration for the shear displacement as the truck pivotsthrough a given angle (see FIG. 5).

The cross-sectional shape of the members 32, 34, 36 and 38 is not ofprime consideration. However, it is preferred to have the major lateralaxes of the members 36 and 38 extend substantially parallel to thetransverse axis 52 of the truck. This facilitates turning of the truckrelative to the post structure 20 about line 52 through point 68 andthus relative to the car being supported so that the wheels 12 and 14can follow the rails more easily. The pads 32 and 34 are preferablywider in the transverse direction of the truck than in the longitudinaldirection thereof, thereby to offer less resistance to rotation aboutpoint 68 during load equalization as will be described in more detailhereinbelow.

As previously indicated, one of the main features of the presentinvention is to prevent or minimize transfer of the load from one pairof wheels 12 to the other pair of wheels 14 or vice. versa duringmotoring or dynamic braking. This is accomplished through the resilientmembers 32, 34, 36 and 38 as will be more apparent from FIG. 6. The tworesilient elements 32 and 34 have 1 their longitudinal axes 64 and 66projecting to meet at a point 68. Also, the vertical axis 70 along thetrans .point 68. This point 68 preferably is located at the sameelevation as the track as indicated by the line 72 in FIG. 6. However,it may be spaced slightly above or below this line and generally indesign, will be positioned, with new wheels above the rail, a distanceequal to half of the expected wear in the radius of the wheels. Thus,with worn wheels, the point will be one half the radial wear below therail surface.

The point 68 being the point of intersection of the principal axes 64and 66 of the resilient members 32 and 34 in the illustrated arrangementalso falls directly on the longitudinal axis 50 of the truck and will belocated on the vertical turning axis 70 of the truck, i.e., thelongitudinal axis of the post structure (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

The point 68 thus is located on the vertical axis 70 of rotation of thetruck during turning of the truck relative to the car and is also on thepivotal axis of the truck relative to the post 20 during tilting of thetruck to maintain the loading substantially uniform on the wheels duringacceleration and decceleration. Thus,

, the truck rotates about the vertical and horizontal axes through thepoint 68 by distorting the resilient pads 32, 34, 36 and 38 as indicatedby the arrows 56, 58, 60 and 62 and the arrows 74, 76 and 78respectively.

As can be seen from the above, the resilient elements 32, 34, 36 and 38must be of a specific type to permit the relative movement as designatedby the arrows 56, 58, 60 and 62 and the arrows 74, 76 and 78 whileproviding a resilient support in the direction of the longitudinal axesof each of the support members 32, 34, 36 and 38 as indicated by thearrows 80, 82 and 84 (see FIG. 6). One suitable type of resilient membercomprises a laminate of rigid plates interposed by resilient pads. Theseresilient pads have their greatest resistance to compression in thedirection perpendicular to the faces thereof, i.e. in a directionparallel to the longitudinal axes of the resilient members, morespecifically in the direction of the arrows 80, 82 and 84 of FIG. 6. Thecharacteristics of the rubber or resilient pads can be controlled toprovide the required degree of resistance in the directions of thearrows 56, 58, 60 and 62 and of the arrows 74, 76 and 78 while providingthe resilient suspension and relative movement between the truck and thecar as indicated by the arrows 80, 82 and 84. By correlating thedimensions of the pads together with their compositions, and compressionwhen installed,

mentioned previously, one can obtain the desired degree of resistance tomovement in all of the directions above indicated.

In the above description, the post structures 20 were adapted to beconnected directly to the car. It is also possible to place a pair oftrucks in tanden arrangement.

on a bolster as indicatedat in FIG. 7. This bolster includes the topplate 104 rigidly interconnecting a pair of posts 20. The pads orresilient members 36 and 38 are compressed between the upper surfaces 52of the trucks 10 and the bottom surface 102 of the main bolster plate104. I

The bolster 100 itself may be secured to the car by means of resilientelements arranged in pairs as indicated-at 106, 108, and 112. These padsor resilient elements have similar characteristics to the pads 36 and 38and permit relative movement vertically and horizontally so that the caris resiliently supported on the bolster and the bolster has a degree offreedom permitting rotation about a vertical axis.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art from the above that thebasic arrangement of the present invention prevents load transfer bypivoting about a horizontal axis positioned approximately at track levelin exactly the amount required to compensate for motor forces throughthe resilience of the pads 32, 34, 36 and 38 while also permittingturning movement of the truck frame relative to the car body about avertical axes and providing sufficient resilience to preventtransmission of shock from the wheels through to the car beingsupported.

When the bolster structure illustrated in FIG. 7 is utilized, all theadvantages of the basic structure are retained, however, the furtheradvantages in that resilient support of the car body can be improved andfurther turning about a vertical axis is permitted.

While the description has been directed to locomotive or railway carsuspension, it will be apparent that the invention may also be appliedto other vehicles such as for example highway vehicles.

Modifications will be evident to those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as described hereinabove andspecifically defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A truck assembly comprising a truck frame having a pair of motorizedaxles and wherein motors are mounted on bearings on each axle andadditionally supported on said truck frame a vertical post structuredisposed at the center of said truck frame and having a lower bearingsection adjacent a free end of said post structure, said'lower bearingsection having bearing means interposed on opposite sides and at anangle to the central vertical axis of said post and lying in the centralvertical axis of said post and lying in the central i 6 vertical planeperpendicular to said truck axles, an upper bearing section adjacent amounting end of said post structure for supporting a vehicle body,further bearing means interposed between said truck frame and said upperbearing section, said bearing means and further bearing means permittinglimited angular motion about a horizontal transverse axis parallel toand midway between said axles to compensate for motor forces on saidtruck frame and for accommodating limited angular motion about saidcentral vertical axis of said post.

2. A truck assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said bearing means areresilient pads consisting of layers of rubber and metal laminatedtogether.

3. A truck assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein said longitudinal axesof said resilient members intersect at substantially 4. A truck assemblyas defined in claim 3 wherein said further resilient means comprises apair of resilient members positioned one on each side of said poststructure adjacent lateral sides of said truck frame.

5. A truck assembly asdefined in claim 4 wherein said further resilientmembers have their longitudinal axes in a vertical plane passing throughsaid vertical turning axis of said truck frame about said poststructure.

6. A truck assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein said resilient membersand said further resilient members m plan view are arranged on anX-configuratron with the resilient members being aligned on thelongitudinal axes of said truck and a further resilient member beingaligned on a transverse axis of said truck.

7. A truck assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said horizontaltransverse axis liessubstantially on the plane defined by points ofrolling contact of wheels and rails.

1. A truck assembly comprising a truck frame having a pair of motorizedaxles and wherein motors are mounted on bearings on each axle andadditionally supported on said truck frame a vertical post structuredisposed at the center of said truck frame and having a lower bearingsection adjacent a free end of said post structure, said lower bearingsection having bearing means interposed on opposite sides and at anangle to the central vertical axis of said post and lying in the centralvertical axis of said post and lying in The central vertical planeperpendicular to said truck axles, an upper bearing section adjacent amounting end of said post structure for supporting a vehicle body,further bearing means interposed between said truck frame and said upperbearing section, said bearing means and further bearing means permittinglimited angular motion about a horizontal transverse axis parallel toand midway between said axles to compensate for motor forces on saidtruck frame and for accommodating limited angular motion about saidcentral vertical axis of said post.
 1. A truck assembly comprising atruck frame having a pair of motorized axles and wherein motors aremounted on bearings on each axle and additionally supported on saidtruck frame a vertical post structure disposed at the center of saidtruck frame and having a lower bearing section adjacent a free end ofsaid post structure, said lower bearing section having bearing meansinterposed on opposite sides and at an angle to the central verticalaxis of said post and lying in the central vertical axis of said postand lying in The central vertical plane perpendicular to said truckaxles, an upper bearing section adjacent a mounting end of said poststructure for supporting a vehicle body, further bearing meansinterposed between said truck frame and said upper bearing section, saidbearing means and further bearing means permitting limited angularmotion about a horizontal transverse axis parallel to and midway betweensaid axles to compensate for motor forces on said truck frame and foraccommodating limited angular motion about said central vertical axis ofsaid post.
 2. A truck assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein saidbearing means are resilient pads consisting of layers of rubber andmetal laminated together.
 3. A truck assembly as defined in claim 2wherein said longitudinal axes of said resilient members intersect atsubstantially 90*.
 4. A truck assembly as defined in claim 3 whereinsaid further resilient means comprises a pair of resilient memberspositioned one on each side of said post structure adjacent lateralsides of said truck frame.
 5. A truck assembly as defined in claim 4wherein said further resilient members have their longitudinal axes in avertical plane passing through said vertical turning axis of said truckframe about said post structure.
 6. A truck assembly as defined in claim2 wherein said resilient members and said further resilient members inplan view are arranged on an X-configuration with the resilient membersbeing aligned on the longitudinal axes of said truck and a furtherresilient member being aligned on a transverse axis of said truck.